Global Warming is a symptom, the result of humanity’s behaviors and decisions. Animal agriculture releases—depending on the study—18 to 51% of the greenhouse gasses (GHGs) that cause global warming. Why, then is it not important to environmentalists to oppose animal agriculture? It also destroys ecosystems, causes disease outbreaks, wounds, death, dehydration, toxic pollution, oceanic dead zones and fear and stress in wildlife. When will the futility of a cow wanting her calf returned, pigs slaughtered by the millions, and the pain of wolves seeing their pack mates killed by aerial gunners be equal crimes in the minds and hearts of environmentalists? Veganism has the opportunity to lead environmentalism, not follow it.

Green Vegans invites you to consider how we can heal the Earth. Veganism, along with other personal responsibilities, is the quickest path to reducing GHGs. It can be done virtually overnight. Subscribe to our website (www.greenvegans.org) to learn more about our clear approach to solving environmental problems and the need to achieve social and economic justice for people and a reduced human population through natural attrition. We are on Facebook as well.

For an in-depth examination of our advocacy, read This Is Hope: Green Vegans and the New Human Ecology. Order it through the Green Vegans website to create an automatic donation to Green Vegans. Related blogs are posted on www.thisishopethebook.com. In addition, be certain to see or purchase the documentary,Cowspiracy. since it thoroughly addresses the environmental impacts of a non-vegan diet.

There are an estimated 21.7 billion to 50 billion “head” of livestock chewing on Earth. Animal agriculture accounts for 70 percent of global agricultural land used. Livestock graze 22 to 26 percent of Earth’s ice-free surface. When environmentalists (or anyone else) do not campaign for the end of animal agriculture they are ensuring corn and soy beans grown for livestock will cover the land instead of recovering ecosystems. This should be THE campaign of the environmental community.

Consider these points about animal agriculture because they are tied to global warming:

The U.S. -

99% of U.S. prairie grasslands have been plowed under, replaced by corn and soybeans.

90% of all soy beans and 80% of all corn is fed to animals in the United States. This turns into 3 billion tons of manure per year.

In the U.S. only about 2% of the soybean crop is eaten directly for human nutrition.

44% of all U.S. land is grazed by cattle and sheep.

The U.S. population has more than doubled since 1950.

Globally -

Globally, demand for food will double by 2050

Half of all land is now converted directly to human use. The rest is impacted by climate change, toxic pollution.

We regulate 2/3 of all rivers

Burning of fossil fuels increased five-fold since 1950

Freshwater consumption has doubled since 1960

Wood consumption 25% greater than 25 years ago / seafood 400%

GHGs continue accumulating / scientists recorded a record 400ppm of carbon dioxide in the atmosphere in 2014, the first time in human history. The last time was some 800 thousand years ago.

The number of people in poverty varies considerably with the price of food and other factors. There are some 800 million severely destitute and malnourished people right now. Animal agriculture competes with people for food.

Chinese leadership understood that dairy could become a business with the right marketing. There were about 100 thousand dairy cows in China in 1949. By 2010, there were 12.5 million. Whenever and wherever we try to alleviate human poverty and suffering with increased animal agriculture, we shift human misery into the backs of individuals from other species.We show the same disregard for cows as we do for ecosystems.

Human Population -

Environmentalists also are afraid to confront human overpopulation and conceptions.

There were about one billion people on Earth in 1850. Now there are approximately 7.2 billion.

There is a net increase of 78 to 80 million more humans added to a struggling Earth every year. That’s about 213,699 more humans every day

By 2050 / 9.3 billion people (U.N.); by 2011, 11 billion people.

At what point do we decide how much of Earth’s biodiversity and abundance we will destroy as cost of human population arrogance?

Environmentalists are reluctant to challenge our worldviews, cultural beliefs, and deeply embedded personal behaviors that lie behind the decline of ecosystems. Environmentalists are not telling us the entire story about what is required for our biological and moral survival. The same holds true for many animal rights organizations and their supporters, including vegans. They are failing to advocate for ecosystems. That’s how many environmentalists see animal rights advocates. They criticize animal rights advocates as only caring for sentient individuals from other species and not the non-sentient that also comprise ecosystems. In large part they are correct.

Vegans can fail to protect ecosystems when we do not actively protect the non-sentient species who support the sentient. The life pulsing within ecosystems depends upon shelter, species culture, social communities, abundant food, clean water, a lack of stress, and comfort. Since sentient individuals depend upon the non-sentient life within the ecosystem as well as the ecosystem’s physical geography and biological processes, the destruction of any aspect of an ecosystem promises to cause suffering to those who are sentient. Always remember that the sentient depend upon the non-sentient and ecosystems overall. Protecting the sentient requires protecting it all with a new human ecology.

For instance, how many AR orgs are sounding the alarm over the fact that phytoplankton is declining 1% per year in 8 of 10 ocean regions? Phytoplankton are responsible for about half of Earth’s net biological primary productivity (NPP), the plant-based conversion of sunlight into food energy. This is bad news for marine individuals from other species who will starve and suffer as a consequence. There is immense suffering in ecosystem destruction.

Vegans do not need artificial propagation and manipulation of species for hunting and trapping. Nor do we need to shoot wolves from airplanes to create moose targets for urban hunters. We do not need fleets of ships to decimate marine mammals and fishes. Wildlife professionals and snipers will not be called upon to eliminate natural predators, nor poison ground squirrels. Buffalo and wolves will no longer be slaughtered as they migrate from protected areas in national parks to land now usurped by animal agriculture ranchers.

How Many Earths?

We are demanding more than what Earth can replace after we consume her resources. In 2012, the Global Footprint Network estimated we were consuming “the equivalent of 1.5 planets…” This means it now takes the Earth one year and six months to regenerate what we use in a year.” If current trends remain unchanged, “we will need the equivalent of two Earths to support us” by the 2030s.

]]>Seattle Ignores Restaurant Air Pollution and It’s Threats to Human and Environmental Health

After an investigation and documentation of unregulated toxic air pollution coming from many Seattle restaurants, including Whole Foods* and the Nickerson Saloon and Grill, that cook meat, Green Vegans petitioned both the city council and the mayor’s office to address the problem. They have not responded, so we have alerted the public with a media release later today. Seattle is not alone as this.is a national problem. It is yet another environmental and health impact related to the animal agriculture industry and the violence waged upon sentient beings.

Commercial cooking of meat in restaurants and food markets produces toxic air pollution that is being vented onto—and inhaled by—people in Seattle, a city that lacks code to establish air quality standards and enforcement authority to the Department of Planning and Development. Green Vegans documented this pollution before petitioning the city council and the mayor’s office in early February to address the problems.

“Breathing in particle pollution can increase the risk of early death, heart attacks, strokes, and emergency room visits for people with asthma, cardiovascular disease, and diabetes. Particles are smaller than 1/30th the diameter of a human hair. When you inhale them, they are small enough to get past the body’s natural defenses. Ozone and particle pollution are both linked to increased risk of lower birth weight in newborns.”[i] Children are at far greater risk from pollution because they breathe more rapidly and inhale more pollutants per pound of body weight than adults.[ii]

For every 1,000 pounds of meat cooked, 33 pounds (or 3 percent of the weight of each hamburger) goes into the atmosphere in the form of particulate matter.[iii] An 18-wheeler diesel engine truck would have to drive 143 miles on the freeway to put out the same mass of particulates as a single charbroiled hamburger patty.[iv]

The Puget Sound Clean Air Agency website notes, “In our region, particle pollution, smog, and air toxics pose the greatest risks to our well-being…. An estimated 1,100 people die each year in Washington State due to outdoor air pollution.”[v] The U.S. Environmental Protection Agency (EPA) states that, “Most of these restaurants [across the U.S.] have under-fired charbroilers, creating a significant amount of particulate matter (PM) and volatile organic compounds (VOCs) that have been classified as health and environmental hazards….”[vi] VOCs undergo chemical reactions when exposed to sunlight and produce ozone harmful to lungs.

Said Will Anderson, “Green Vegans campaigns to end all meat, dairy and egg consumption because of its massive environmental impact, violence, and injustice. The toxins vented on people and the environments remind us of that fact.”

* Late in 2014, the visible and dramatic pollution vented from Whole Foods, Westlake Avenue, Seattle, stopped suddenly during Green Vegans’ investigation. It apparently continued for years beforehand given a complaint was filed with the city in 2010. That complaint alleges the Whole Food pollution (directed directly on a bus stop, pedestrians, and drifted to nearby residences) existed since 2008.

]]>http://www.greenvegans.org/seattle-restaurants-vent-toxic-exhaust-onto-public/feed/0ALERT: Cetacean Captivity Bill in Troublehttp://www.greenvegans.org/alert-cetacean-captivity-bill-in-trouble/
http://www.greenvegans.org/alert-cetacean-captivity-bill-in-trouble/#commentsThu, 05 Mar 2015 20:02:06 +0000http://www.greenvegans.org/?p=939ALERT March 5, 2015 PLEASE RESPOND NOW Immediate Help Needed: Keep Whales and Dolphins Out of Captivity Who: All Washington State residents, any age. Young people who do not want to see whales and dolphins in captivity are encouraged to … Continue reading →

Who: All Washington State residents, any age. Young people who do not want to see whales and dolphins in captivity are encouraged to call when their parents do.

What: Contact your legislators. Washington State Legislature House Bill 2115 would prohibit captivity of whales, dolphins and porpoise for entertainment and exploitation. It is under attack and being blocked from leaving the Rules Committee which decides if a bill will proceed to debate and vote by the full Washington State House of Representatives.

When: Now. All bills must be voted out of the House by Wednesday or they die.

How:

If your Representative is on the Rules Committee, call their office or email

While the FAA considers Green Vegans’ letter charging they have failed to abide by the National Environmental Policy Act of 1969 (NEPA) regarding the regulation of drones, consider this surprising and worrying additional background. Drones will provide many benefits and can be a useful technology if used responsibly. Unfortunately, drones and their advanced technology are ripe for abuse that the FAA has too long ignored.

They are available to anyone with money, meaning there are tens of thousands of drones now and countless more to come. Hobbyists will continue to have more drones of considerable speed and size than all other sectors. Commercial drones, up to fifty-pounds and one hundred miles per hour if proposed rules are adopted, are and will be in the minority compared to hobbyist aircraft. Rulemaking for commercial drones cannot escape the need for an environmental assessment that considers the total number of drones.

Taken together—and in individual instances—this many drones constitute a threat to public privacy interests, ecosystems and wildlife. With few exceptions, they are allowed to operate in public airspace. Hobbyists at present fly from ground level to 400 feet above—the approximate height of a forty storey building. The proposed commercial flight maximum is 500 feet. As we reported earlier, Amazon.com alone is reported to be selling 10,000 hobbyist drones every month. This is a new intrusion into human and wildlife habitats at a scale we’ve never experienced before.

Government agencies and first responders like fire and police services are making plans to increase their use of drones. And of course, amateur to professional hobbyists are yearning to fly where they want, filming, intruding on people and wildlife most often without any redeeming benefit compared to the impacts and next to no regulatory constraint.

The least priced models are toys but while still under one hundred dollars, they can fly into your “space” as well as harass wildlife, however unintentional it may be. As the price increases so do the features including abilities to self-land and take off, self-stabilize, automatically return to the controller when the battery nears a point of no return, follow a “flight plan” using GPS coordinates, and be controlled by cell phones and computer tablets. Distances and times aloft also increase with the price of the drone. It’s not difficult to get a drone that flies twenty to thirty minutes at a time at distances exceeding a mile, well beyond the FAA’s recommended “keep it in sight” advice, but not the law.

The following drones I’m sampling next are examples only and not exceptions in that they are marketed as platforms for cameras, yet are capable of being modified for a skilled person’s purposes, for intentional help or harm. Harm can include disrupting wildlife from nesting, finding food, and fleeing while burning up too many calories. Fitness of individuals and the species declines. Fear will prevail. Add to that whatever payload a criminal or terrorist chooses—be it poison, explosives, or a dirty bomb.

For $1,350 on eBay, you can get a drone that can carry 1.76 pounds of those substances, or a camera. Here is one that can fly 1.2 miles away at 49 miles per hour from the controller at a cost of $3,339. Though the price is not listed, this drone can carry over 13 pounds . Amazon.com has a dedicated Drone Store. Another company sells a drone to the public that flies over sixty miles per hour .

Though there are drone manufacturers in the U.S., other large players are in China and Romania. A company in Romania, for $8,580.80, is selling a quad-copter, one of the most common of configurations that features four rotors. It flies a straight distance of three miles and can stay aloft for half an hour. Send them $13,363.40 for their Quadcopter Condor and you’ll fly for seventy minutes and carry 12.6 pounds of payload to whatever destination you choose, including a target of choice. Again, remember, these are examples that are being sold online at places like eBay.

Nearly all of these drones present themselves as bases for photography and filming. From a recent survey, it appears they will be purchased by hobbyists for that purpose. Where, how, and how many they fly is an open question without answer. (Update: the FAA released proposed regulations for commercial drones. Our next post will tell you what you can do.) Hobbyists are still unregulated excepting near airports and obvious security zones.

Ecosystems and wildlife will suffer in the coming onslaught of drones. That is why Green Vegans petitioned the FAA and the White House Council on Environmental Quality to abide by NEPA. The FAA seems not to have an ear for intrusive impacts to humans, wildlife, and ecosystems. Our next post will summarize the FAA proposed rules for commercial drones and how you can help protect wildlife throughout the country.

Green Vegans, a Seattle-based human ecology organization, has petitioned the Federal Aviation Administration (FAA) to implement the National Environmental Policy Act (NEPA) before it finalizes policy and regulations that would apply to commercial drones under the FAA Modernization and Reform Act of 2012 (the Act), in addition to “model” drones used by hobbyists. “Clearly,” said Will Anderson, president of Green Vegans, “the benefits as well as the environmental and social impacts from drones are enormous. The FAA must comply with NEPA on this major action by the federal government that covers what will soon be millions of drones, most of which at not going to be regulated by the Act.”

This QR X350 PRO drone is being sold on Amazon’s “Drone Store.”

On Wednesday, President Obama, relating to the model drone that crashed on the White House lawn over the weekend stated, “We don’t really have any kind of regulatory structure at all for it.” The White House Council on Environmental Quality was given a copy of the petition.

Total Unmanned Aircraft Systems (UAS), as drones are called by the FAA, will approach ~250,000 by 2035, of which ~175,000 will be in the commercial marketplace.” Significant is the fact that these figures do not include the far larger number of users in the model/hobby UAS category.

In the Act, Congress directed the FAA to implement comprehensive regulatory integration of UASs for civil (commercial) and public (government agencies and first responders) classes of drones by 30 September 2015. Subtitle B: Unmanned Aircraft Systems (Sec. 336) of the Act “Prohibits the FAA Administrator from promulgating rules or regulations on model aircraft flown strictly for hobby or recreational purposes and meeting certain other criteria.” Nowhere, Green Vegans noted to the FAA, does the agency concern itself with the cumulative environmental impacts on both the human environment and wildlife, endangered and not endangered.

“Green Vegans is stating the obvious. The FAA must take all classes of drones into account for limiting the cumulative environmental and social impacts,” said Anderson. Complying with NEPA would require and generate needed studies and public participation before the FAA completes its policy and regulatory positions. Imagine what would happen if we let millions upon millions of drones fill the sky without first studying the impacts on wildlife—endangered and non-endangered—as well as our privacy, property rights, and rights to a peaceful environment. ” he added.

Remarkably, the current policy and regulatory reforms proposed by the FAA could leave intact Advisory Circular (AC) 91-57, Model Aircraft Operating Standards. Its guidelines pertain to model/hobbyist drones despite it being established in 1981, thirty-four years ago when hobbyist drones were not the issue and technology they are today.

A Chicago Tribune story reported that Amazon is selling ten thousand drones every month. Model drone hobbyists do not need FAA approval but they are encouraged to follow safety guidelines. Hobbyists are allowed to fly their drones into nearly every terrestrial and atmospheric habitat from grass top level to under four hundred feet only with restricted airspace rules near airports, security zones, and loose recommendations for public safety.

For the first time, wildlife and people will be subject to a cumulatively increasing number of noisy, unnatural UAS aircraft intruding into their ecosystems and proximal space with the FAA’s allowance. Missing from the FAA process to-date is the critical public and scientific involvement and information that NEPA is uniquely designed to provide.

In the public arena, privacy and fear of government overreach is the constant undercurrent (social impacts; environmental justice) that an environmental impact statement would address. “We need environmental justice for all species,” said Anderson.

]]>http://www.greenvegans.org/green-vegans-petitions-faa-re-drones-nepa/feed/0Donation Fatigue?http://www.greenvegans.org/donation-fatigue/
http://www.greenvegans.org/donation-fatigue/#commentsWed, 31 Dec 2014 22:56:57 +0000http://www.greenvegans.org/?p=891Dear friends of Green Vegans, Like you, I’m receiving many last-minute donation requests from worthy organizations. Some of the larger nonprofits are emailing me once per day in this final week of 2014. As founder (2009), I help where I … Continue reading →

Like you, I’m receiving many last-minute donation requests from worthy organizations. Some of the larger nonprofits are emailing me once per day in this final week of 2014. As founder (2009), I help where I can but focus most of my support on Green Vegans while using our social media websites and Facebook pages to let you know about the good works of others.

While our mission seems overwhelming at times, there is no one else to help do it but you. Together we make hope possible. Year 2015 for many people will start in a few hours. Other traditions have different systems for tracking our time on the planet. Yet all of us are bound by our love of life. Our compassion compels us to be active in the creation of a better world and better selves.

You’ve made the right changes in your personal life. You inspire others by your example. And you donate to help us do more. Today we received a generous donation from Karen in Florida. It will power our campaign that, when successful, will make it easy for you to identify vegan foods for sale at food stores.

Green Vegans conducts campaigns in direct proportion to the donations we receive. Please take a moment and—out of all the requests you are getting—make a donation to Green Vegans now. Every dollar means a lot to us. Your gifts make our campaigns possible. We are a nonprofit, 501(c)3, all-volunteer organization. Help us make a difference. Simply click on the “Donate button on this page to connect to PayPal’s secure site. Together, we will make 2015 vegan green!

]]>http://www.greenvegans.org/donation-fatigue/feed/0Vegans / New York Climate Marchhttp://www.greenvegans.org/vegans-new-york-climate-march/
http://www.greenvegans.org/vegans-new-york-climate-march/#commentsFri, 26 Sep 2014 02:02:07 +0000http://www.greenvegans.org/?p=878Green Vegan Owen G. sent these photos from the New York City People’s Climate March. Look for a new blog post by this weekend about what veganism demonstrated—and reminded us of—as we marched with so many other social movements.

Green Vegan Owen G. sent these photos from the New York City People’s Climate March. Look for a new blog post by this weekend about what veganism demonstrated—and reminded us of—as we marched with so many other social movements.

]]>http://www.greenvegans.org/vegans-new-york-climate-march/feed/0More Seattle Vegans Climate March Photoshttp://www.greenvegans.org/seattle-vegans-climate-march-photos/
http://www.greenvegans.org/seattle-vegans-climate-march-photos/#commentsThu, 25 Sep 2014 06:24:29 +0000http://www.greenvegans.org/?p=868A big THANK YOU to Veda S. for her weeks of work to pull the Seattle march together. Here are some photos she sent in. Tomorrow we’ll post photos of New York Vegans. It seems the images of Green Vegans … Continue reading →

]]>A big THANK YOU to Veda S. for her weeks of work to pull the Seattle march together. Here are some photos she sent in. Tomorrow we’ll post photos of New York Vegans. It seems the images of Green Vegans marching there were lost in the huge crowd but we’re working on it.

]]>http://www.greenvegans.org/seattle-vegans-climate-march-photos/feed/0Green Vegans Report In From NYChttp://www.greenvegans.org/green-vegans-report-nyc/
http://www.greenvegans.org/green-vegans-report-nyc/#commentsWed, 24 Sep 2014 04:36:37 +0000http://www.greenvegans.org/?p=853The People’s Climate March was held at 2,808 events in 166 countries. Owen was our representative for the NYC event. He had this enthusiastic response. “The march was a smashing success in NYC. I’ve never seen so many vegans in … Continue reading →

]]>The People’s Climate March was held at 2,808 events in 166 countries. Owen was our representative for the NYC event. He had this enthusiastic response.

“The march was a smashing success in NYC. I’ve never seen so many vegans in one place! It was actually a little chaotic though, there was barely room to stand before the march started moving, it took several hours to start moving, and after it did start moving we (the vegans) got separated. Were I to do it again, I’d try and organize the vegans to pause periodically to create space in front of our signs so that our materials/signs etc. were more visible.

I met up with Kip and Keegan [producers of Cowspiracy]. They had a large banner and there was a giant inflatable cow by them that read ‘I’m full of greenhouse gases. Do you have a steak in it?’

There were tons of creative and informative signs. Cowspiracy dvds were handed out and the film was promoted amongst the crowd where it matters most: folks who care about the environment.

The best opportunity to distribute the t-shirts seemed to be just before the march started, when all the vegans were together. I gave them out to vegan marchers, who clearly understood the green<->vegan connection. (I was shocked at the sheer number of such vegans — HUNDREDS, from all over the country — it’s really changing fast!)

The reception was interesting; most marchers responded positively by saying something along the lines of ‘I get the connection, that’s why I’m vegetarian’ or ‘I’m working to change my habits’ — only a small handful of folks wanted to argue that meat could be green (and there wasn’t much opportunity to debate). It struck me that by and large, we are winning this demographic over rather quickly. We don’t have much opposition, what we mostly have is ignorance.

You could see a little bit of cognitive dissonance happening in some folks between their desire to continue eating animal products and their care for the environment — which is exactly the point, and I was happy about having a hand in that. I’m hoping some friends will post photos of me but I haven’t found any just yet.

It was exhausting, but all told it was really well worth it and I would totally do it again (and again and again!). Really glad so many vegans showed up to share the message. This was really a once in a lifetime opportunity to reach people.”

]]>http://www.greenvegans.org/green-vegans-report-nyc/feed/1Vegan Visibility Is A Success At Climate Marchhttp://www.greenvegans.org/vegan-visibility-success-climate-march/
http://www.greenvegans.org/vegan-visibility-success-climate-march/#commentsTue, 23 Sep 2014 08:29:24 +0000http://www.greenvegans.org/?p=825As forecast, the weather was beautiful and vegans were visibly plentiful at the Seattle People’s March for Climate Change. One of a reported sixteen hundred-plus marches held around the world on September 21, the Seattle event attracted a broad base … Continue reading →

]]>As forecast, the weather was beautiful and vegans were visibly plentiful at the Seattle People’s March for Climate Change. One of a reported sixteen hundred-plus marches held around the world on September 21, the Seattle event attracted a broad base of people and organizations. Everyone demanded action from our governments to move off of a diet of fossil fuels and onto a clean energy economy that provides green, living-wage jobs. As Green Vegans posted earlier, that message is essential but the majority of concerns and solutions were excluded by Climate March organizers in Seattle and elsewhere. Vegans made sure that everyone in the Seattle march saw that veganism is the most effective response to climate change.

As many of us passed out hundreds of pieces of literature to march-goers and passersby, others took turns holding four large banners and dozens of signs, many featuring posters of the documentary, Cowspiracy. This was truly a collaborative action by the vegan community. We took turns holding up banners and it didn’t matter which organization created it.

Twelve speakers presented their perspectives for about an hour and a half. From our position behind the stage and on the sidewalk, vegans stretched for at least fifty feet wrapping around the rear and sides of the stage. Our large vegan banners and signs were visible to the all of the rally attendees as well as the public on the street. At two-thirty, we merged as the vegan contingent into the main marching column that numbered some two thousand people, according to the media. We marched for a mile or so as traffic stopped and we delivered our message to the marchers on waterfront.

It was a great day as Seattle’s vegan community introduced people to veganism. We are happy to report also that additional vegans were demonstrating at the circus in Everett. Congratulations to all!